


She Wore a Red Dress

by lqior_astra



Series: I Can't Help Falling In Love With You [1]
Category: The Mentalist
Genre: Autumn, F/M, Fluff, Oneshot Prompts Challenge, Slow Dancing, fall!fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:40:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26596174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lqior_astra/pseuds/lqior_astra
Summary: When Jane asks Lisbon to accompany him to one of the CBI benefits, she almost says no. Almost.
Relationships: Kimball Cho/Summer Edgecombe, Patrick Jane & Teresa Lisbon, Patrick Jane/Teresa Lisbon, Wayne Rigsby/Grace Van Pelt
Series: I Can't Help Falling In Love With You [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934773
Comments: 11
Kudos: 39





	She Wore a Red Dress

**Author's Note:**

> Happy fall, y'all! Today is the first day of autumn where I live, and North Carolina couldn't be prettier this time of year! GreenJadeAnomaly and I are doing our own Fall Fic challenge, and I was inspired to put this piece up as the first one. Hope you enjoy!

Teresa Lisbon loathed going to CBI fundraising events. She never understood why it was required that they dress up, wouldn’t it be more convincing if they wore the same clothes they wore for work? Nonetheless, her opinion on company functions did not change the fact that an invitation to one was sitting in her email inbox, and she begrudgingly RSVP’d yes. 

“I shouldn’t be surprised you’re still here,” said a voice from her doorway. “Do you want a cup of tea?” 

Lisbon sighed. “Thanks, that would be nice.” 

She followed her blonde consultant to the kitchenette, where he started the water for two cups of tea. Lisbon plopped down in a chair, head in her hands. 

“What’s got you all worked up?” Jane asked. 

“Didn’t you see the email?” Lisbon asked, quickly remembering who she was talking to. “Of course you didn’t. You don’t ever check your email. Anyway, there’s supposed to be a fall fundraiser for all CBI units, and it’s mandatory to attend.” 

Jane hummed, setting a steaming cup of tea down in front of Lisbon, the fruity kind that she preferred. 

“Well, are you going to go?” he asked. 

She glared at him. “What part of ‘mandatory’ don’t you understand?” 

“Oh, I don’t know. You could call in sick,” he suggested. 

“I hardly ever even call in sick to work!” 

Jane shrugged. “Fair point. Maybe it won’t be as bad as you think it will be.” 

She shot him a dubious look. “At least it’s only semi-formal this year. The invitation said they were having it outside somewhere out near Plumas lake, so the dress code is cocktail, not black tie.” 

“That’s a shame,” Jane mused. “You won’t get to see me in my tuxedo again.” 

Lisbon swatted him on the shoulder. “Do not go there. I suppose I shouldn’t remind you of the horrible magic tricks you showed the guests before the speeches started.” 

“Hey, those tricks were good!” Jane protested. “Not to worry though, if it’s good tricks you want, it’s good tricks you’ll get. I’ll come prepared with a variety for this year.” 

“Honestly, Jane, your antics are probably the most entertaining part of these events. Getting all dressed up and having to rub elbows with rich benefactors is just not my idea of a good time,” Lisbon complained. 

“You aren’t going with anyone, are you?” 

“Excuse me?” Lisbon said. “Whether or not I have a date is none of your concern.” 

“So you don’t have a date,” Jane said, leaning back against the counter. 

Lisbon flushed. “Is there something so wrong with letting your career come before relationships?” 

“Not at all. Seeing as how you don’t have a date, and clearly, I don’t have a date, what do you say we go together?” He suggested. 

She scoffed. "Me. Go with you. Like on a date?" 

Jane considered this. "Maybe not like a date necessarily, but I would hate to leave a woman lonely for an event like this. Come on Lisbon, we're two adults enjoying each other's company for an evening out." 

Lisbon looked skeptical. “I’m going to assume this requires us to act like we’re dating.” 

“In case you haven’t noticed, we already fight like an old married couple. I’ve been asked plenty of times if we were together,” Jane said wryly. 

“Stop!” Lisbon said, turning pink and hiding her face in her hands. “Of course we aren’t!” 

“So, what do you say, Lisbon? Will you go with me?” 

“Why not? Sure, Jane, I’ll go with you. But you had better let me drive.” 

“It’s a deal,” Jane exclaimed happily. “I’ll pick you up at 8, okay?” 

She nodded. “Okay. Thanks for the tea, but I really do need to get going,” Lisbon said regretfully. Sometimes she wished she could stay all night to make sure that Jane actually got some sleep. 

Jane took Lisbon’s cup from her and began to clean up the kitchenette. He would never admit that he was feeling giddy at the fact that Lisbon had agreed to go to the event with him, especially since he had been quite a nuisance all week. Jane told himself that the excitement was purely because of the opportunity to embarrass her, and not because he actually felt any sort of romantic attraction to her, but deep down he knew the truth. 

“See you tomorrow, Jane,” Lisbon called over her shoulder as she left. 

As Jane went to lie down on his makeshift bed in the attic, he gave some thought to what his plans for the evening of the benefit would involve. If he was going to woo Lisbon, he was going to do it right. That meant flowers, dancing, complementing, and most importantly: not doing anything to make her mad. Lisbon was definitely an easily angered type, he thought to himself. 

Jane realized that felt something more deeply for Lisbon than he had for any woman since Angela. It had been a lot of emotional wrestling for a long time over whether or not it was a betrayal of his wife’s memory, but he had come to the conclusion that Angela would want him to be happy, instead of eternally punishing himself for what had happened. The transition from holding back all of his feelings to letting himself experience them had been extraordinarily difficult, but with some effort, he had been able to come to terms with experiencing emotion again. 

He had been so numb for so long that it came as a sort of a shock to him that he might have feelings for Lisbon that went beyond the boundaries of a professional relationship. At first, he vehemently denied it, searching for any other possible explanation for what he was feeling. But after several months, he had come to terms with the fact that he was hopelessly in love with Teresa Lisbon. Now it was up to him to show her. 

_

Lisbon came into work the next morning regretting that she had accepted Jane’s invitation. How on earth was she supposed to play it cool while on a glorified date with her consultant? Her consultant who was still grieving for his family? The event was only a day away, and she didn’t have the guts to face Jane right then. Instead, she breezed through the bullpen and hid away in her office. To her surprise, there was a note on her laptop. It read: 

Lisbon,

Don’t forget you need to get a dress. Take some time off at lunch today and go with Grace. 

PJ

She huffed angrily. There was no getting out of it now. Deep down Lisbon knew that going to this event might bring up feelings that both of them had tried to repress for some time, and she thought that it might have been better to just go separately and not change the status quo. But what was done was done, and Lisbon had to hold tight to her decision. 

She marched out to the bullpen and kicked Jane’s couch. 

“Jane, what is this?” she demanded. 

“What?” He asked, blinking innocently. “I already told Grace you were going with her, you can’t very well back out of it now.” 

“What if I don’t want to go?” Lisbon growled. “I hate shopping.” 

“I know you do, but you need a dress for the party and I know for a fact you don’t have anything suitable in your closet.” 

“Fine,” she relented. “I’ll go, but only if a case doesn’t show up.” 

“Lovely,” Jane remarked. “Let me know what color your dress is so that I can match my tie.” 

She swatted him on the arm and stomped back to her office. 

_

Much to Lisbon’s dismay, several hours later no case had arrived on her desk. Lisbon had never been the type to hope for more work to do, but today she was practically begging for something else to occupy her mind. Unfortunately for her, the city of Sacramento had decided to take a break from serious crimes for the day, and she was filling out the last of her paperwork when Van Pelt came into her office. 

“Hey, boss. Are you ready to go?” she asked. 

“Yeah, sure. Let me grab my jacket and I’ll meet you at the car,” Lisbon replied. 

On the way to the mall, Van Pelt seemed very keen on getting information from Lisbon about who she was going with. Lisbon had no intention of telling anyone that she had agreed to go with Jane, but she knew that the redheaded agent would not leave her alone until she knew. 

“C’mon, boss! I already told you who I’m going with,” Grace wheedled. 

“You have to promise not to freak out, okay?” 

“Why would I freak out?” 

“Because I’m going with Jane.” 

“Oh my god. Oh my god, like as his date? I thought he wasn’t...you know,” Van Pelt rambled nervously. 

Lisbon sighed. “Yeah, I did too. He hasn’t been romantically involved with anyone since his wife, and I’m not sure if he’s actually interested or not. When he asked me last night, it was more of a ‘both of us are single, so why not?’ kind of a thing.” 

“Oh.” 

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, all the while Grace was thinking about the flirty advances she had noticed from her boss and the golden-haired consultant. When she first joined the unit, she was convinced that her boss and Jane were together. Their interactions were far too flirtatious for a purely professional relationship. Of course, Rigsby was oblivious to anything out of the ordinary and she was certain that Cho had noticed, but he wasn’t about to say anything. 

Eventually, Van Pelt had asked Cho whether or not the two were involved. It seemed to her that no woman was immune to his charms, with his gorgeous eyes and his smile that could rival the sun. She had certainly been blindsided by it at first, but quickly adapted to a sort of familial relationship with him. Grace knew that he didn’t act like he did with Lisbon with anyone else, his hand always protectively on the small of her back when they were out, bickering good-naturedly with her in the car, and defending her from any other man in the CBI who dared to say something provocative to her. It was obvious in Grace’s mind that something was happening between them, but apparently, neither Jane nor Lisbon had noticed. 

Grace practically dragged Lisbon into the first dress store they found. Lisbon hadn’t been looking forward to it originally, but she was determined to make the best of it. 

“What kind of dress are you looking for?” Grace had asked. 

Lisbon passed a hand through her hair thoughtfully. “I haven’t decided yet. Something less formal than last year, because this year’s fundraiser is outdoors.” 

Van Pelt nodded her approval. “We’ll have to find something that will knock Jane’s socks off.” 

And maybe his shirt while we’re at it, Lisbon thought. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too difficult to find something flattering. 

Lisbon ran her hand over the myriad dresses that hung on the wall mounts. This seemed like the kind of store you would go to for events such as this. The store was divided by color, with dresses of satin, silk, lace, and every possible combination of the three. Grace led her to the back, where they kept the semi-formal wear. 

“What do you think?” Grace asked, holding up a mid-length navy dress. 

“That would go nicely with your hair,” Lisbon said. 

Grace beamed and added a couple more dresses to the one she was holding. Lisbon followed suit, picking up a dress before squinting at it and putting it back. 

Van Pelt looked at her and said, “You know, I think red would look lovely on you.” 

“Me? No. No way. I don’t usually wear bright colors,” Lisbon protested, flushing. 

“It doesn’t have to be a bright red,” Grace said. “But don’t you want to blow Jane’s mind when he sees you? Come on, just try something on.” 

Lisbon scanned the rows of dresses, clearly overwhelmed. Noticing this, Grace set down the steadily growing pile that she was holding and moved to help her. By the time they had finished looking through the dresses in Lisbon’s size, she had a reasonably large stack of clothes to try on. 

An attendant gave them both dressing room numbers, and Lisbon resigned herself to spending the rest of the afternoon drowning in taffeta and lace. They had ended up choosing styles in emerald green, maroon, both light and navy blue, silver, and one particularly garish shade of lavender. The last one was Grace’s idea. 

Lisbon worked her way through the pile, sorting out the styles she liked from the ones that she didn’t. She knew she was out of her wheelhouse, and that Grace had been an immense help, but spending hours staring at her reflection was enough to make anyone want to quit. Once Lisbon had tried on most of her dresses, Van Pelt called to her from the next room over. 

“Hey Lisbon, I think I’ve decided which one I’m going to get, but I need your opinion,” she announced. 

“Just a second!” Lisbon called back, pulling the zipper up on the last dress in her pile. It was the red one that Grace had forced her to try. Not a bright shade like she was worried it would be, but instead a dark shade of maroon that brought out the green in her eyes. She stuck her head out of the dressing room to see Grace’s dress, although she wasn’t sure that she was the most qualified person to be asking. 

“What do you think?” she asked, gesturing anxiously at her dress. It was a beautiful navy blue, a perfect contrast to her red hair. The dress came to her knees and had three-quarter sleeves made of dark blue lace. 

“It’s gorgeous!” Lisbon said. “That looks really good on you.” 

“Thanks,” Grace said, blushing. “Well, aren’t you going to show me yours?” 

“Uh, I don’t know. This is the last one I had to try on, and it's a little tight.” 

“It’s that red one, right?” 

Lisbon nodded. 

“Well, show me!” Grace said. “I forced you to try it on, at least let me see it!” 

Lisbon cautiously stepped out of the dressing room, turning in a full circle. 

“Oh, Lisbon,” Grace breathed. “You have to get that one.” 

“Really?” Lisbon asked. “Don’t you think it’s a little, uh, revealing?” 

The dress had off the shoulder straps and a sweetheart neckline. It was fitted all the way from her chest to her hips before flaring out in a skirt that came to just above her knees. Proudly, the dress showed off her every curve, and Lisbon wasn’t so sure she liked that. 

“Not at all,” Grace said. “Really, it’s not that showy. A little bit more than usual, obviously, but I think it looks pretty damn good.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Definitely. You’ve got the figure for it,” she said, earning herself a glare from Lisbon. “And besides, sometimes you’ve just gotta have a little fun, right?” 

“Right,” Lisbon agreed. She couldn’t wait to see Jane’s face when she showed up in that dress. 

_

Jane had also taken a long lunch when Lisbon left, walking to a florists shop several blocks from the CBI. He wanted to impress Lisbon, and wasn’t sure that traditional flowers were the way to go. Instead, he decided that he would get a wrist corsage that she could wear to the event, just to spice things up and surprise her. 

He wasn’t sure what color her dress was, so he ordered an arrangement of orange poppies, avens, and golden glories, set off by a single red rose in the center. Jane hoped that the flowers would adequately match the hues of the leaves they were sure to see at Lake Plumas. It may have been a bit overkill, seeing as how they weren’t going as a couple, but if Jane lived for anything, he lived to impress. 

Returning back to his couch in the bullpen, satisfied with his errand, he overheard Cho and Rigsby discussing the upcoming event. Jane laid down and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep so that he could listen in on the conversation without interruption. 

“...and so now I’m not sure whether to get her flowers or not, because we aren’t like, officially dating,” Rigsby had said. 

“Hmm,” Cho responded. 

“Well? What do you think?” he asked anxiously. 

“Go with your gut,” said Cho, with his usual monotone voice. 

“Aren’t you bringing anyone?” Rigsby asked. 

“So what if I was?” 

“C’mon, man. You have to tell me.” 

“Why?” 

“Because I told you that I asked Grace,” he said logically. 

“That’s great. I didn’t ask.” 

“Come on, tell me. I’ll just guess until you tell me who it is,” Rigsby threatened. 

Cho almost shuddered at the thought of Rigsby trying to guess who his date was. “Okay, okay,” he relented. “I’m bringing Summer.” 

“The CI?” Rigsby asked incredulously. “Why?” 

“She’s nice.” 

Jane chuckled at the exchange, giving away his position. Rigsby whipped around. 

“You heard that?” 

“Absolutely,” Jane said. “Oh, and Rigsby? Get Grace those flowers. She’s a traditionalist, she’ll appreciate them.” 

And with that, he left to get a cup of tea. 

Lisbon and Van Pelt didn’t return until early afternoon, and since no case came in, Lisbon decided to let the team leave a couple of hours early. She was ready to get home and relax, they had had a few long days in a row and Lisbon wanted nothing more than to lay on her couch watching trash TV and eating ice cream. Sighing, she grabbed her bag and coat and was headed out for the night before she was stopped by Jane. 

“Ah, Lisbon, just the woman I was looking for.” 

Lisbon rolled her eyes. “What do you want, Jane?” 

“Is it too much to ask just to talk with you for a bit before you leave? It gets lonely around here once everyone else goes home,” he explained. 

“It’s never bothered you before, you practically live here! Besides, I have a very important pint of raspberry dark chocolate ice cream in my freezer that I need to get home to.” 

“If it’s in your freezer, it’s not going to melt. C’mon, I just wanted to ask you about your shopping experience today. I know you weren’t exactly over the moon about it,” he said. 

“Damn straight. I probably would have just reused one of my old dresses if you hadn’t forced me to go with Grace,” Lisbon confessed. “Any kind of shopping, especially dress shopping, isn’t exactly fun for me.” 

“That wouldn’t have been acceptable at all. I can’t be seen with a woman who isn’t properly dressed for the occasion,” Jane said arrogantly. “And besides, you did find a dress, didn’t you?” 

Lisbon huffed angrily. “It’s all about you, isn’t it? If you must know, yes, I did find a dress.”

“Excellent!” Jane cried. “What color is it?” 

“Red.” 

Jane raised his eyebrows. 

“Okay, it’s more like maroon,” Lisbon corrected. “Nothing too bright. Grace had another name for the color, but I’m not sure what it was.” 

“Well, I think you’ll look lovely in red, my dear Lisbon.” 

She moved to smack him on the shoulder but he stepped away slyly. “Goodnight, Jane.”

_

The day of the event was a whirlwind of activity for the Serious Crimes Unit. They were working a double homicide in Elk Grove that had been escalated up from the Sacramento PD due to the high profile nature of the victim’s family. Fortunately, it was a fairly simple open-shut kind of case that took no more than a day to close. The killer had left DNA evidence at the scene, definitively proving himself guilty. Lisbon sighed. It had been a pain in the ass, but the case was closed with only a few hours for her to get ready before Jane was set to pick her up. 

Arriving home, she threw her work bag on the kitchen table before dashing up to her room. Jane was going to be there in less than two hours, she realized with a pang. She had never really been one to do anything fancy with her hair or makeup, but since this was an occasion and she wanted to make a good impression, Lisbon decided that she would dress up. After all, Grace had made a good point when she said that sometimes you need to let loose and have a little fun. 

The doorbell buzzed about an hour after she had gotten home. She was in the middle of applying her makeup, and only had one eye finished. 

“What is he already doing here?” Lisbon grumbled. 

She flung the door open and waved him inside. “You do know that you’re early, right?” 

“It’s better to be early than late,” Jane said nonchalantly. 

“Okay, well, I’m not exactly ready to go yet. I haven’t finished doing my hair and I still have to put on my dress,” Lisbon said exasperatedly. 

“Not to worry. I’ll stay here and make a cup of tea while you finish getting ready,” he said, already filling her kettle with water. 

Lisbon went back into her bathroom, returning her attention to the eyeliner she had been applying. Jane had looked very nice in his suit, she thought to herself. It was a little bit dressier than the ones he usually wore to work, and it looked perfect. A natural blush settled on her face as she applied mascara to her lashes. 

“I thought I might find you in here,” said a voice from the doorway. 

Her hand slipped and she poked herself in the eye with the mascara wand. “Jane! You can’t sneak up on people like that! I thought you said you were going to stay downstairs.” 

“I did. But then I got bored. I figured you wouldn’t want me to assess every item in your house, so I decided to entertain myself by watching you get ready instead,” Jane explained. 

“Do whatever you want, Jane. As long as you don’t distract me, okay? I really need to finish doing my hair and I can’t concentrate with you staring at me,” she said. 

“Got it. No distractions,” he said, sitting down on the edge of her bathtub. Jane watched with great interest as she expertly brushed, pulled, and twisted her hair into a loose bun at the nape of her neck. She left her bangs natural but curled the wispy pieces on the side that refused to stay in the updo. 

When she was finally satisfied with how it looked, she turned to him and said, “Okay, shoo. I need to put on my dress and shoes, and I sure as hell am not allowing you to stay in here while I do that.” She waved him towards the bathroom door, and unceremoniously shut it in his face. 

Jane perched on the end of her bed, replaying in his mind the memory of her humming softly while brushing her hair. She seemed so relaxed, carefree. It was a side of her that he rarely got to see. Against his better judgment, Jane considered asking if she needed help, but he knew that it could only end with a punch to the nose for him. 

After what felt like an eternity, Lisbon finally opened the bathroom door and stepped out. Jane’s breath caught in his throat. She looked beautiful, a true goddess clothed in a deep wine color. His eyes roamed unabashedly over her, scanning every curve and line of her body. 

“Do you like it?” Lisbon asked nervously. 

“You look wonderful, my dear,” he said truthfully. “Absolutely gorgeous.” 

“Thanks,” she said, smiling. Her lips were painted with the same dark crimson hue as her dress. 

Jane wanted nothing more than to hold her tiny waist and kiss off all that lipstick, but he held back. 

“I have something for you,” he said, holding out a white box tied with a gold ribbon. 

“Jane, how many times have I told you that you don’t need to get me anything?”

“It’s nothing big. Just open it, Lisbon,” Jane encouraged. 

Slowly, she untied the ribbon and slid the lid off of the box. Lisbon pulled out a small arrangement of flowers in every color of the fall leaves, attached to a silk band that she could put on her wrist. 

“It’s beautiful, Jane. Thank you,” Lisbon said happily, kissing him on the cheek. 

“You’re welcome, my dear. Come on, we should probably get going,” he said. 

Lisbon locked the door to her apartment and tucked the key into her clutch. Jane led the way to where his car was parked, and she realized that there was no way she was going to drive that car, especially in heels. 

“Still insist on driving?” Jane asked cheekily, dangling his keys in front of her. 

“I’m going to be gracious and let you drive. But I swear if you go any more than five miles over the speed limit, I will force you to pull over and switch spots with me,” Lisbon conceded. 

The drive to Plumas Lake was pleasant, Jane entertaining Lisbon with stories from his carnie days. Lisbon couldn’t help but admit that he was amazingly charming, even if he was a pain in the ass to work with sometimes. Jane turned off of the main road, following the signs to the party venue. The foliage captured their attention with bright bursts of red, yellow, and gold. 

Jane parked his car near the others and walked around the car to open the door for Lisbon. 

Taking his arm, she said, “You know, this is the one thing I don’t like about Sacramento. You can’t see the leaves in the city.” 

“Well then, Jane responded, “I suppose we had better enjoy tonight as much as we can before we have to go back to the city.” 

A white canopy strung with twinkling lights starkly contrasted the backdrop of trees and leaves. The lake water shone in the distance, the moon reflecting off its surface. Lisbon gasped as Jane snaked his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. They met up with the rest of their team at one of the raised tables. 

“Boss!” Grace cried, hugging her warmly. “I knew Jane would flip when he saw you in that dress,” she whispered in Lisbon’s ear. 

Lisbon was slightly surprised to see Summer, the blonde-haired CI, hanging on Cho’s arm. She shook her head as Summer practically dragged Cho down to the lakefront. Rigsby had his hand resting on Grace’s back protectively. 

"You both look great," Lisbon commented to Van Pelt and Rigsby. 

"Thanks," Grace said, blushing prettily. 

"Did you want to get a drink?" Jane asked them all. "There's probably some champagne." 

They made their way over to the bar, listening to Bertram speak about the honorable pursuits of the different units. Lisbon wanted to roll her eyes but held back. To her, these events were nothing but advertisements to their benefactors. 

Bertram finished his speech, and everyone clapped. Jane suspected that most of the claps were just out of happiness that the speeches were over. He handed Lisbon a drink as the band began to play some slow music. 

“Hey, I guess I should go make the rounds,” Lisbon said apologetically. “Senior agents are kind of required to actually talk to people.” 

“Sure, go ahead. I’ll be here.” 

Jane was not remotely interested in talking to the guests. It reminded him too much of his old life. Charming rich older couples into investing their money in anything, even if it was as good a cause as state police, was no longer in his repertoire. Jane was content to stay back with Rigsby and Van Pelt even if it meant that he had to put up with all of the lovesick glances they were shooting at each other. 

After a half-hour of mindless conversation, Jane noticed that Cho and Summer were hanging around at the bar. Rigsby invited Van Pelt to dance and she gratefully accepted, so he had been left alone at their table. 

“Cho, Summer. How’s your evening been?” He asked by way of greeting. 

“Hey, Jane!” Summer exclaimed. She crossed her legs and spun around on the stool she was occupying. Clutching her drink, she leaned towards him gracefully. “Aren’t you here with Lisbon?” 

“Er, yes. She’s out talking to the guests. Part of the job requirement, you know?” Jane replied, flagging down a bartender. 

“One reason I couldn’t be a senior agent,” Cho deadpanned. 

Summer laughed loudly. “Kimball, you’d be a great senior agent. We just need to work on your communication skills.” 

“Yeah, no thanks.” 

Jane took a drink of his wine and pointed out Rigsby and Van Pelt, who seemed to be having a great time dancing. 

“I take it they ditched you?” Summer said knowingly.

Jane nodded. 

“Well,” Summer suggested. “you should ask Lisbon to dance.” 

Cho raised both eyebrows but didn’t smile. “Boss doesn’t even like dancing.” 

Summer whipped around to face him. “It’s the principle of the thing, Kimball. A man asking a woman to dance is his way of saying how he feels without directly saying it.”

Before the argument could continue, Lisbon appeared at Jane’s side. 

“Sorry, that took a lot longer than I expected. Apparently, Minelli wanted me to meet every single guest,” she stated flatly. 

Jane put a hand on her back and gestured for her to sit down. They gladly talked with Cho and Summer about the event so far and who was attending, but before long the band played a slow song again. 

“Lisbon, would you care to dance?” Jane asked, his eyes twinkling. 

She flushed a deep red. “Sure. Lead the way.” 

Jane kept his arm around her until they were on the dance floor. A dense canopy of trees with leaves bursting in every golden hue hung above them, blanketed with stars. He placed a hand on her waist, pulling her in to capture her hand with his own. Jane began to sway them gently in time to the music, and Lisbon allowed herself to get lost in the rhythm, laying her head gently on his chest and closing her eyes. He smelled of tea and cedar, a scent that was uniquely his. Lisbon had never been one to enjoy dancing, but she could stay forever in his embrace. 

After several songs, Lisbon broke away and suggested that they go sit by the waterfront. She held Jane’s hand, pulling slightly to direct him to the edge of the silvery lake. 

“Did you enjoy your evening?” Jane asked, still holding on tightly to her hand. 

“I did.” Lisbon smiled. “Jane, thank you. For all of this. It’s been the most fun I’ve had in a long time.” 

Jane twirled her playfully. “You’re welcome, my dear.” He caught her by the waist and pulled her close to him so that their bodies were touching, his hands a feather-like weight on her hips. 

“Teresa?” 

“Yes?” 

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to say to you. I know it’ll change some things, and I’m not sure if you even want-” 

She cut him off by closing the gap between them and touching her lips gently to his. He deepened the kiss, passion exploding like fireworks between them. Jane traced his hands up to cup her chin, and she slowly pulled back. 

“Teresa, I love you,” Jane whispered, their foreheads touching. “You’ve set a fire in me and I can’t put it out.” 

“That’s terribly convenient for you,” Lisbon murmured. “I wouldn’t ask you to.”

As they met again in a slow kiss, only one thought went through Lisbon’s mind. 

Maybe this party hadn’t been so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! The dress shopping scene was inspired by the time I went prom dress shopping with GreenJadeAnomaly, and in that situation, I was Lisbon and she was Grace. Dresses and fancy events are not my thing. (so I sympathize with you, Lisbon!) 
> 
> If there's a certain fall-themed prompt you'd like to see as part of this series, please please please drop me a line and pairing/character in the comments! No idea is too fluffy! ;) See y'all in the next one! Prompt: scary movie night


End file.
